HARDY SEX

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21384, 11 July 1931, Page 19

HARDY SEX

WOMEN IN SPORT (From Our Own Correspondent.) , SYDNEY, July 2. The controversy which has raged in England (according to cable messages) as to which is the hardier sex, has spread to Australia. Australians, by the way, are always glad to discuss any subject that will detract them from the prevailing depression, so it is,not any wonder that they have entered wholeheartedly into this one. Although some Sydney authorities claim that women can stand-up to some endurance tests better than men, experts like Professor Harvey Sutton and the Olympic swimmer (Dr Keith Kirkland) claim that women lack the explosive energy of the male sex. Pro- ' lessor Sutton referred To long distance Hying, channel swimming, and endurance swimming generally, as well as alpine climbing as' pursuits in which there was perhaps equality in endurance powers, but in ventures where sheer energy was required, such as sprinting, jumping, hurdling, and speed swimming, men, he thought, had an advantage of about 25 per cent. Dr Keith Kirkland said that in endurance swimming he was satisfied that women were better than men—an ad-' vantage that had come to »them through carrying more fat and wearing fewer clothes, so strengthening their powers of resistance against cold water. But in general, Dr Kirkland added, men could stand up to sport, with its hard knocks, better than most women. On the other hand. Miss Rose Stone, vice-president of the City Girls’ Amateur Sports Association, said; In sports in which women seriously compete they can stand up to all the testa and hard knocks equally as well as the men. Miss Rose Goodman, who is stroke of the New South Wales champion women’s rowing'four, said: Girls would collapse if they had to put into sport the same physical strength as men put into their games. Apparently there is a great deal to be said for and against, and if the public has been anxious to form an opinion it has not been greatly helped by the controversy, for each side has been very busy.